Oil regulators

[Rob.S]

hi chaps, ive recently been trying to sort out some oil problems on a few pack, ive sorted a lot out and was just wondering about oil regulators on the side of large 3 ph compressors.... i understand the ooil level should be half in the sight glass and also theres an adjustment on top mainly being of the screw type...... im having problems getting them to fill up, some are ok but some just stay low no matter where i put the setting for the float.... do i assume they are useless?? can they be repaired?? any sujestions??
thanks rob

[dill]

sainsburys used to use these on all their packs. as i can recall they were made by ac&r. there were two types, one was fixed to give you a half level in the sight glass and the other had two screws under the cap, the top being a fixing screw and the one underneath being the adjusting screw. they could be adjusted to give a level in the sight glass from 1/4 to 3/4 level of oil. they used to fail quite regularly, sometimes they would block up as they utilised a small orifice and float arrangment. being completly sealed except for the outlet and sight glass housing they were impossible to repair. you also had to make sure they were level to the compressor or the float would stick shut to prove them i used to get a 3/8 charging hose and apply some pressure to the inlet to make sure they wer'nt restricted. the later models came with a small filter in the oil inlet to overcome this problem.

[chilly]

I agree with dill for the recip paks, absolutly on the ball.
The screw packs however are a totaly different system , The oil sep is also a oil acumulator , it looks like a big reciever, the ouil spins inside it and its hard to get a level while the pac is running, The thing your trying to adjust sounds like the oil strainer. I might be way off the mark here but If you are working on a screw pack be carefull, The oil system is totaly diferent and on top of that the type of oil is usualy synthetic on screws and mineral on recips.

Im going back about 8 years to the r22 sainsburys stuff so i might be out of date. Hope some of that helps.

[chillin out]

Are the oil regs new? if so when they come, some of them have a cardboard insert for transporting them so the float doesnt rattle off, maybe the cardboard hasn`t been removed?

[Rob.S]

thanks chaps.... some of the regulators have no adjustment whatsoever and are sealed units, however some have the 2 screw type one you undo to reveal the actual adjusting screw.. i just think they are very fickle things and never seem to want to work properly.... even tho the service they provide is vital!! would of thought there would be something fool proof considering the damage they can do if not working properly
cheers chaps
rob.s

[dill]

hi rob.s, something else I remember with these oil regulators is that the oil pressure going into these things has to be 15 psi above compressor crankase pressure. in sainsburys recip packs they used to be used in conjunction with an ac&r oil seperator and a henry 10 psi check valve. the seperator was for ever failing with the internal float iether blocking, sticking or even falling off. the spring would pass if the internal joint was split. all this meant that very little oil or pressure would reach the regulator therfore the crankase pressure would keep the float on the regulator closed. the way to check them was to put a sight glass in the 1/4 line between the seperator and the regulator and observe the oil flow. In answer to your initial question these things gave us pleanty of work at sainsbury stores and were great for selling spares to the customer.

[Rob.S]

excellent chaps....im getting a much better idea now of how all this works and even find myself looking at these oil regulator level from site to site and the more i look the more widespread the problem of these are... some full to the top, some half and some with nothing!!! im thinking overhall of the entire oil system... check pressure of oil is of course vital!! even today ive had an electronic oil regulator (which ive never seen, an explanation would be superb if anyone can help!!) with nothing in it, it had a soft rubber cover over the electronics and after a short inspection found a long bolt type think coming out the top with 2 wires coming off it... it turned out to be an adjuster for the oil level, which i adjusted and then heard, tick tick tick, as it allowed oil past the mag valve im assuming.... the adjuster was screwed right in? no wonder there was no oil and also no wonder the compressor was shafted!! i think im dreaming about oil regulators tonight he he thanks again
rob.s

[Peter_1]

Suppose you're talking about the Traxoil system which work with a puls/pause oil injection, normally under high pressure.

http://www.frigoduman.com/alco/datasheet/omae3526.pdf